Scheduler
AmigaOS-inspired Wait/Signal tasks with timer preemption.
The operating system
What Okei OS is today — architecture, boot path, and verified behavior. Application categories planned for the future are on Horizon.
Pre-alpha. Facts here reflect tested behavior in QEMU. Gaps are stated explicitly so prototypes are not mistaken for finished product.
Architecture
Layers as built
Okei OS is a monolithic x86_64 kernel — VFS, scheduler, network stack, and drivers run in ring 0. Userspace is static ELF: Bash, Vim, Okei Windows binaries, coreutils, and diagnostics.
| Layer | What it does |
|---|---|
| Boot | GRUB → Multiboot2 → kernel (~247 KiB) |
| Kernel | Scheduling, memory, syscalls, VFS, TCP/IP, console, framebuffer, PTY, PCI |
| Filesystem | ext4 root image; tmpfs scratch space |
| Network | Custom in-kernel stack — ARP, IP, TCP, UDP, DHCP, DNS, socket API |
| Userspace | Bash primary shell; upstream ports over hand-rolled substitutes |
| Desktop | Okei Windows display server and desktop shell |
Boot & runtime
From power-on to shell
- GRUB loads the kernel via Multiboot2; optional linear framebuffer for graphics
- Kernel brings up paging, VFS, network stack, and mounts the root filesystem
- GNU Bash starts as the primary interactive shell
- Okei Windows can autostart the display server and desktop on login
- Default QEMU setup: user networking, 128 MiB RAM
Kernel highlights
Ring 0 capabilities
Memory
4-level AMD64 paging; per-process page tables; physical allocator.
Syscalls
~75 handlers: files, processes, mmap, signals, poll, PTY, sockets.
IPC
Capability scaffolding exists — cross-process isolation is incomplete today.
Userspace today
What runs on a typical image
| Area | Status |
|---|---|
| GNU Bash 5.2 | Primary shell; line editing limited |
| GNU coreutils | 75 tools ported and packaged |
| Vim 9.2 | Opens files; interactive keyboard path incomplete |
| Dropbear SSH | Real crypto when packaged on the image |
| Okei Windows (14 apps) | Registered GUI shells — pre-alpha, not finished apps |
| Graphics demos | Framebuffer tests and raycaster bring-up |
Okei Windows
Desktop layer (pre-alpha)
Okei Windows is Okei OS’s windowing stack — not X11, not Wayland. A display server owns compositing; applications draw into granted surfaces over IPC. Okei Desktop v1 includes a panel, Start menu, screensavers, and registered app launchers.
- Display server — compositor, input routing, window management
- Desktop shell — panel, Start menu, desktop icons
- Graphical terminal — largest single app; actively refined
- Verified in QEMU via automated integration tests
Longer-term Aether protocol work targets network-transparent windows — research only, not shipped. See Horizon.
Known gaps
What is not done
- Vim interactive editing end-to-end; full root filesystem write parity
- IPC capabilities delivering real cross-process isolation
- Native hardware installer, UEFI polish, multi-user security model
- No browser, office suite, or package manager on the image
- GUI apps below alpha feature bars
Scale
Codebase snapshot
553
first-party files
29k
kernel lines
30k
userspace lines
34k
test lines
Extended metrics and citation guidance: llms-full.txt.